Exquisite Black And Gold Redemptions Are Coming...

Thanks to Jeff over at New Card Smell, and Upper Deck's facebook page, we have finally gotten confirmation that the cards are starting to come through. These have taken ABSOLUTELY forever, but the result seems to be pretty good. My only complaint is the "Black and Gold" lettering looking the way it does, but other than that, they are cool. Per UD these should start coming around the holidays, but we all know that predictions are just that.

Here are some pics:

SCU Breaks: Exquisite Box Break Tonight

Should have it done and up by around 6 or 7 PST tonight, depending on how easy it is to get my camera to work for me. Im hoping we have a great break with 7 cards from 7 teams, or just a bunch of Vikings, haha.

Please let me know if you want it all at once or if you want pics then video. If you want it all at once, its going to take longer because we have to wait for YouTube, but it will also keep the suspense. Otherwise you can see the results up front, and then the vid later.

Either way, should be pretty fun.

SCU Breaks: Box Has Been Ordered

The box has been ordered for the upcoming exquisite team break. The shindig should be happening on Wednesday if all shipping goes to plan.

Obviously, things are subject to change.

Please use the post below for all trading.

SCU Breaks: Exquisite Box Break

As I said before, I am putting the club on hold for now while things get back into order around here.

However, that doesnt mean we wont be able to have a little fun. Im going to try something a little different, hopefully we can fill this up.

Here is the idea:

1) Every one who pays for a spot gets one team via random drawing and one team that they choose on a first come first serve basis. To avoid the easy choices, Ravens and Falcons will not be among the teams you can choose for yourself. Any other team is up for grabs, choose your favorite.

2) Once we have all sixteen spots filled, ill random off the remaining teams.

3) You will receive all cards from both teams that you end up with, I will break the box on here for all to see. Random video will also be posted.

4) Multi team cards will be randomed

5) send payment to gellmana@gmail.com through paypal

This should help to move away from the luck of the draw for at least one of the teams you will get, but also give you a little more help with your "investment."

Cost will be $33.00 for 2 teams, which includes box fees, shipping fees both ways (if necessary), paypal fees, and supplies for shipping.

Remember before you join: RAVENS AND FALCONS ARE OFF LIMITS

1. Gellman - Vikings (HOST)
2. Nick D - Cowboys (PAID)
3. ScubaSteve - Steelers (PAID)
4. Voluntarheel - Panthers (PAID)
5. Voluntarheel - Lions (PAID)
6. Scubasteve - Packers (PAID)
7. Darkship - Bears (PAID)
8. Arfmax - Giants (PAID)
9. Matt S - Patriots (PAID)
10. Scott G - Raiders(PAID)
11. Jeff O - Broncos (PAID)
12. Bobby P - Colts (PAID)
13. Bobby P - Titans (PAID)
14. Andrew T - Jets (PAID)
15. Voluntarheel - Dolphins (PAID)
16. Hupaskin - Texans (PAID)

NOTE: A lot of people chose the Cowboys, please choose again if you did, nick got here the fastest.

If you are worried, please send a list of teams and I will give you the best available.

The Tiger Effect

Now that we have confirmed auctions of the Tiger Woods exquisite patch auto, many of our questions have been answered. Im actually very glad that this card has finally surfaced, as without it, UD has been in a pretty precarious situtation with the people who already had a hard on for the agony of the people over in Carlsbad.

Because we see that the card is not a 1/1 and is numbered 1/3, we can assume that all those handfuls of people who did their search for Tiger at the beginning of the release will maybe go case diving again. The reason I say this is because this card is the first card in the last few years that people have truly searched for. Usually a card is pulled within the first few weeks, everyone ooo's and aaaaah's, and that is that. With the Tiger, people (including myself) have gone so far as quiestioning the existence of the card. Gregg had confirmed that there were five, but many on the boards did not take that for granted.

Also, this may be one of the first Exquisite cards in a long time to break the 10K barrier. I have said for a long time that 10K is the modern ceiling with few exceptions, but this may come close to breaking that, maybe due to the length of time between release and pull. That is good for everyone, believe it or not, consider it a hobby stimulus package. Give some credibility back to the manufacturers, maybe get more people buying. Granted, this is a small blip on the radar, especially with the seller putting it so high, but it is something...

Lastly, on the question of Exquisite's box price going down in actual value because of 1 less Tiger, I disagree. I say the box price stays put, as people will want to try their luck again. Either way, Im sure this will bring a whirlwind of coverage. Chris Olds of Cosmo Beckett Seventeen and his ridiculous hats will maybe even stop covering solutions to teen erections in class to pester the seller until he lets Beckett sell his card. Watch, this is only the beginning.

Unconfirmed: First Tiger Pulled?

Per an email from one of the readers, last night his friend has pulled one of the Tigers, number 2/5, out of Exquisite. This is completely unconfirmed and could be bullshit, but if its not, lets hope he can get us a scan as he said he would. Per his friend, this came from a bonus pack, so I am not putting much water into this bucket.

Ill keep you updated as this develops.

Thanks to Joe from the D.

We Are Almost A Month Into Exquisite Now, Still No Tiger

The buzz in the hobby right now is all Tiger Woods, due to the presence of his cards in both Champs hockey, Ultimate Collection, and Exquisite Collection. The last in that list would be considered to be the craziest card to hit the market in years. The problem is that not one of the five cards have made it onto the secondary market. We havent even gotten a whiff of one.

I know that Gregg had promised that 5 of these made it into circulation, and that not as much Exquisite has been opened this year as last, but the odds thus far that no one even knows a person who has one is a little off the charts. More than 50% of the logos have been pulled, including the Ryan that was sold for $6250 off eBay, the Ryan/Flacco dual logo, and at least one of the Tigers from a more mass produced product like Champs Hockey have been pulled as well. Its currently at $3200 on TWGM.

I would put this card at close to $10K if pulled and listed due to the brand, the product, the memorabilia, and the possible inscription. I am eagerly waiting, hoping that one will surface.

Man, this is nuts!

Thus Completing My Peterson Purchasing For 2009

Barring an act of god or another set producing win, im done buying All Day autos for 2009. My Exquisite auto came in today, and I must say that I am pleased. It could have been smeared, it could have gone off the card, but all in all, its pretty nice. Its up next to my other Exquisite from 2007, and will remain there until I decide that AD is not my player of choice anymore. 

Funny enough, the scan is AWFUL, so bare that in mind, and the card itself has a nice gold border on the side of it. Pretty cool.

SPECIAL GROUP BREAK: 2008 EXQUISITE FOOTBALL CASE--CANCELLED--

***Due to lack of interest (which I can understand at the price point) I have to cancel this. I will be refunding the money of those who have already paid***

Thank you for all who showed interest and perhaps at another time when the economy isn't so far in the dumps it might work out.

Ryan 1/1 Logo Pulled On Blowout Forums

I am sorry for the long string of Exquisite posts, but damn, this was a nice fucking pull by a guy who posts on the blowout forums. Of the big rookies, this one was the biggest, and I am glad that it went to a regular guy who buys his boxes from a shop, rather than a big corporation or hobby big wig.

Also, it looks much better than the Patch Auto because of the pic change and the design for the logos. For getting rid of the Rare Materials 1/1s and making them /10 and /35, UD did an awesome job with these 1/1 logos.

Lions and Bears are here, but no Tiger? OH MY!

So, looking at my calendar, we are coming up on 2 weeks since Exquisite has been released, and we have yet to see a Tiger Woods auto pulled. This is pretty crazy considering how much of the product has been probably been opened so far, and how many of the cards are supposed to be in the set.

Per Upper Deck's site, Tiger is supposed to have 14 cards in this set - 10 normal "patch" autos, 3 gold, and 1 platinum. With 14 cards, you would expect at least one to have made it onto youtube or onto eBay. Hell, even a story would have surfaced somewhere from someone right?

Just for kicks, lets take a look at the Rare Materials cards /10, a card with 4 less in the print run than all of the Tigers. Per my snooping on ebay and the forums, all of the players in the set have had at least 1 card pulled that has been posted for sale or as part of a break. Im not saying this proves anything, its just a comparison.

Lets say for instance, that Gregg's original count of 5 Tigers was correct and that the web is mistaken. If each of the 5 tigers was put into a different case, you would expect that 5/2500 cases would have a Tiger in it. You would expect that 1/500 cases would be your odds. Then, if you consider that 500-700 cases are probably opened in the first few weeks and as far as we know, no Tiger has been pulled, it would leave 5/2000 which lowers the odds even more to 1/350-400 cases. Add into it that almost every other card out of 10, and most the cards out of 5 have had at least one pulled, people are beginning to rumble as to where these cards are. We are already at the odds for one to be pulled, and moving further past every day.

As of right now, I am giving UD the benefit of the doubt, only because we saw one of the cards pictured during the course of the previews for the product. If it comes out that the cards are stashed away somewhere, and were mistakenly not included in the pack out, you can imagine what the backlash will be from the collector base. I hope that things are good, and that eventually someone will pull one of them so that we can see what they are going to sell for. At this point, with the bubbling needs of the Exquisite lovers out there, I would put the value at 4 or 5K minimum for the first, and a bit lower for the rest.

NOTE: Per Gregg, there are 5 Tigers in the cases, and he personally witnessed them being packed out into the product. That makes me feel a lot better, lets hope one surfaces soon, I am eager to see them.

Info On Exquisite Black and Gold Redemptions

This year in exquisite's gold packs, there were quite a few people who pulled the black and gold redemption cards for a key member of all 6 of the Steelers' championships. I thought it was a cool idea, as it really hasnt happened before that Exquisite has had a set like this. It gives the team collector an amazing set to complete, and the player collectors get cards that are commemorating one of the Steelers proudest moments. If I were a Steelers fan, I would be really happy about this.

The problem is, the checklist doesnt include some of the most "key" members of the teams:

CHECKLIST
bg-br Ben Roethlisberger /25
bg-ds Donnie Shell /150
bg-fh Franco Harris /100
bg-ha James Harrison /101
bg-hw Hines Ward /32
bg-jg Joe Greene 150
bg-jh Jack Ham /150
bg-jl Jack Lambert /150
bg-lg L.C. Greenwood /150
bg-lw Lamarr Woodley /150
bg-rb Rockey Bleier /150
bg-tb Terry Bradshaw /25
bg-tp Troy Polamalu /44
bg-wp Willie Parker /100

Now, the question I have is, where is the Bus, and where is Santonio Holmes? Both were important parts of two of the championships, but are not included. I know that you cant necessarily have everyone, but those were key to me. Otherwise, the checklist looks pretty good, with Harrison's card being one of the only autos, if not the only, he has, and also Polamalu getting some love. You can tell these cards will be in pretty high demand once redeemed, due to the set builders, and the Steelers collectors. I know 2 or 3 people that would pay out the nose for the Roethlisberger and the Ward.

It will be interesting to see how these turn out.

h/t Card Informant

Exquisite Cards Have Been Mailed

For those of you who participated in the Exquisite break, all of the cards have been mailed. The system should have emailed you with tracking info, so please let me know if you dont receive them.

Kickstand was the big winnah for this time around, I encourage you to join up with Holy Hitter's case break and hopefully you can have the same kind of luck.

Thanks again to everyone.

(Darkship, I realized that I never mentioned the base card, it was Derek Anderson. Its on the way)

Product Value Review: Cancelled

First, a huge thank you to "tasteslikedirt" for creating this awesome banner that is truly a photographic analogy to the endeavor we are about to partake in.

Due to lack of interest this idea will be shelved until a later time if at all.....